A question of sport: how many of the big music acts that Dunedin has been able to host over the past decade, helping them to cover the construction costs of their world-class roofed stadium, would still have bypassed Christchurch if the equally iconic AMI Stadium/Lancaster Park (RiP) had it not been ripped apart by mother nature on that tragic day in 2011 (or if that hadnt taken the Cantabrian politicians and policymakers quite so long to approve the building its replacement)?
Dunedin is one of my favourite places in the world, but as i argued back in 2007/2008 (when Carisbrook was still greeting visitors who entered the city from the South), the university city simply does not have the year round resident population, the tourist accommodation options or the international airport capacity to compete with the South Island’s biggest City, let alone Auckland.
I hate to Think what might happen if they end up building that big international airport near Cromwell, opening up the $$$ that can be found in Queenstown and Wanaka?
Unlike sport, there’s no place for nostalgic sentiment in the cut throat music industry. Sadly, when Christchurch gets its new venue, the costs attached to securing/attracting major acts to Dunedin is going to increase to the point where they will need to operate as a loss leader or look to other innovative forms of revenue generation.
Sorry Mr Davies, i love your work, but thats me not being “silly”, or making assumptions. My outlook is based on evidence and examples from all over the world, including elsewhere in NZ (look at the impact of Eden Park’s long overdue awakening on the concert-based revenue generation opportunities open to Western Springs and Mt Smart - its forced the owners of these venues to play their CBD stadium card once again)
https://lnkd.in/gEnuf2nF